Yo tengo un sueño. I have a dream.
Featured Photos: 1) A Dual Language Spanish Immersion student prepares to place painted hands on a class mural in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Friday, Jan. 14, 2022. 2) Dual Language students work together to paint a picture of Dr. King.
By: Benjamin Rickert
BCS Communications Dept.
Yo tengo un sueño.
That’s how Dual Language Spanish Immersion students at Candler Elementary School learned to say “I have a dream” ahead of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Jan. 17. Across Buncombe County, students learned about the life and impact of Dr. King, a minister and influential leader in the American civil rights movement.
Second and third graders in Ms. Laura Isabel Noguera’s immersion classroom painted pictures of King and his contemporaries, and they wrote responses to the question, “¿Qué harías para mejorar el mundo?” (“What would you do to improve the world?”) They also discussed in Spanish the importance of accepting people no matter how they appear or where they were born.
“They learned that they can do things in their daily life to make the world a better place for everybody,” said Ms. Noguera, a Colombian teacher with more than a decade of classroom experience.
With schools closed Monday in honor of Dr. King, Noguera hopes students will reflect on the purpose behind the pause in activity. She also wants them to know that throughout their lives, they can choose to prioritize and defend human rights.
Shortly before class concluded on Friday, second grader Ella shared with classmates a reason she thinks people who look different should make an effort to be together.
“So they don’t have to be alone,” she said.
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